Category: Career Management

As we celebrate this most joyous day, I wanted to send out wishes that you, and your family, enjoy this day and remember the meaning it represents, not matter how you celebrate. Enjoy your day!Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting focuses on workplace happiness and organizational success.If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started! https://cyscoaching.com or barbara@cyscoaching.com. For more great tips, visit our other blog at https://allaboutcareersites.com

First off, TGIF! This is the last day of the work-week, for most, while also being a long weekend due to Christmas being Monday. While most are just trying to get through the day and get on with their time off, there is s till work to get done.
A great exercise to do today, and every Friday, is to go back and review your week to see what your ‘wins’ were, as well as what did not (and why); there are several benefits to doing so:

it shows your accomplishments, as these often get forgotten in the busyness of the week. It’s important to see that you are doing more than you believe which elevates your confidence and motivates you to continue on

It shows what you did not get done – no explanation on this one but it’s important to see why they did not – did something get in the way (an outside source), was it you and some underlying fear, etc. Without knowing you will continue these patterns

It shows what’s important to you regarding where you place your focus, and what tasks align with your skills and strengths. Often times, without realizing it, you may place importance on activities that feel ‘comfortable’ or are non-threatening, and not tackle those that are important and create high emotion. Do you read emails when you should be writing that report?

It shows where your time-wasters are so you can make corrections – time wasters occur for reasons I just stated – there is some underlying fear that arises and takes over. The amygdala (fight or flight) actives, releasing cortisol which hits the executive functions in the brain leaving you to put them off or avoid completely. Understanding this will help you to create a schedule you can stick with and get more done and plan for pushing past when those times occur

Its shows you how to set goals and what you need to prioritize – reviewing the past week’s list can uncover patterns for how you set goals and how you prioritize those activities (if you do, which you should). Recognizing your work patterns can go a long way to reinforcing those that are having an effect and those you need to stop doing. Prioritizing tasks is another key element to accomplishment and gives you direction on how you plan your day; overwhelm occurs when you think all of your given tasks have to be done at once so giving them a rating number will alleviate this problem. You can give them a 1-2-3, etc. or an A-B-C rating so you have no doubt on which to work on first.

It shows you what needs to get done for next week’s to-do list – now that you’ve reviewed your current week, you can take any unfinished tasks and carry them over to your new list, giving them a priority rating, and then add any new items. You will be clearer on how to start your week and can rest easy on your days off. You won’t wake up in the middle of the night, suddenly remembering that you forgot to do something needed.

This exercise will go a long way to your productivity and managing your time throughout the day. Your days will go by smoother from planning better, which all starts with a review. Wishing you relaxing weekend!Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting focuses on workplace happiness and organizational success.If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started! https://cyscoaching.com or barbara@cyscoaching.com. For more great tips, visit our other blog at https://allaboutcareersites.com

Professional development is critical to ensuring that your skills and aptitudes are at their highest. Just like an athlete has to condition themselves for playing on the field or running a marathon, workers need to do the same.
Professional development involves taking the skills you use most often and focusing on them, so that they are at their highest; it also involves learning new skills or knowledge that will enhance what you currently know. This is what leads to being a high performer – never thinking you know everything or being satisfied; it’s recognizing that there is always something to be learned and then putting the new-found information into practice.
Professional development, however, begins with personal development. This is where you work on yourself, i.e. the ‘inner workings,’ if you will. Understanding yourself is the key to success. It’s the ‘how’s’ and ‘why’s’ of why you do what you do. Areas to work on include:

perceptions and expectations

attitude

communication skills

conflict management (including resolution)

drives and motivations

values

habits

beliefs

All of these drive your behaviors, especially looking at your perceptions and expectations, which then lead to beliefs, which, ultimately, drive your behaviors and the other items on the list above. It’s also about managing them, ala being emotionally intelligent. Working on these areas will help you to be more effective in all you do, no matter what environment or situation you find yourself in. You will have more effective relationships, as you will be more open to others, have more empathy, listening more and then regulating your responses to what you hear and see.
How do you develop personally? It’s no different than steps you would take in your professional life:

read books on mindset, self-esteem, communication, etc.

listen to TED Talks, podcasts, or audio books

attend networking meetings or join groups on a specific area

go to a seminar or workshop

journal daily to uncover your thoughts/feelings and set daily goals

read motivational quotes that lift you up

work with a coach, who can help you to uncover negative patterns and help you develop new, more positive skills

Enhancing your personal development will lead you to being at your best; this, then, leads to you being your best in your professional life. After all, you are the same person in both arenas. Bringing out your best will lead to more success and a more fulfilled life overall.
If you’re ready to be your best, let’s talk!Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting focuses on workplace happiness and organizational success.If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started! https://cyscoaching.com or barbara@cyscoaching.com. For more great tips, visit our other blog at https://allaboutcareersites.com

Years ago, during my corporate days, I can still remember how frustrating it was when I was put on a project, worked hard with those of us on it, only to be told the project was going in another direction. This is a common complaint I’ve heard lately from clients – their organization starts a new system or program which doesn’t pan out. Just as they are getting used to it, it’s off to something else.
So this begs the question: can an organization suffer from bright, shiny object syndrome? Meaning that they implement some type of a new program or system which makes no sense for their current ones; or, it’s something that’s trending so they jump on the bandwagon (my experience). What leads to this confusing behavior?
There are several reasons why this can be the case:

Brand – organizations are always needing to ensure their brand is visible to consumers but, if traffic seems slow or projected numbers aren’t reached, this can lead to wanting to enhance the brand. Looking at how others, who are in the limelight and getting attention, can lead to wanting to go into that same direction

Fiscal – if an organization is not doing well, they will try many ways to bring buyers in so new programs will be developed in the hopes of doing so. Also, as profits decline, looking at trimming expenses needs to occur, which could be through layoffs or ending current programs that are high dollar, in lieu of others

Jumping on the Bandwagon – there are just some leaders who have heard of a new trend and want to jump on, too; it’s the old “if it works for them, it will work for us, too”

New Direction – companies always need to be expanding and growing to keep up with consumer needs, so this can mean that new processes or systems will be implemented to ensure that growth

While all of these reasons have merit, it seems that there is no forethought into any of these ideas, or at least from an employee’s standpoint who is the one to carry out that new newly developed program. This is not to suggest that leaders don’t put thought into their decisions but, when doing so, it’s not about tunnel-vision to the perceived end-result. Switching from program to program will only create misery all-around: the brand can be confused; more money will be spent, and lost; doing what other’s do won’t always mean it works for all; and new directions can still mean you will get lost.
Don’t be one of these organizations who switch and change randomly. Pulling the rug out from employees, from one idea to another, can frustrate and deflate the creativity and effort of the team. I remember having worked for months on a new program and, just as it was about ready to launch, being told that the project was scrapped for another, which a competitor had implemented. Talk about an emotional time!
This is a time of transparency for the needed change, and then for inclusion of workers and getting their feedback; if these workers don’t know the reasons for the changes or the benefit to them, resistance will occur, which can lead to high levels of stress, dissatisfaction, and disengagement. People will leave under these circumstances, so communicating openly with them will get more buy-in, resulting in program success.
New systems, processes or programs can work but there should be a method for making the decision, as well as for how it will play out. This means being open, transparent in intentions, allowing employees to share ideas and feedback, keeping them informed along the way.Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting focuses on workplace happiness and organizational success.If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started! https://cyscoaching.com or barbara@cyscoaching.com. For more great tips, visit our other blog at https://allaboutcareersites.com

ROI – or return on investment – is a critical component of any business; it is what helps to know if the business is on the right track to both meet its goals, as well as for the services/products offered. Typically, we think of ROI from a consumer standpoint, meaning to help those customers know if they are getting value, or results, from the money spent which can be in the form of a service offered (i.e. coaching, consulting, etc.) or a physical product.
But business owners need to be looking at ROI from their own standpoint: is the time and money I’m spending on activities getting me the results I’m looking for. Two areas to track are time and money:

Time: this is where you track the amount of time you are spending on business activities, which should include both time spent with clients or to get them. Areas to consider should include: identifying clients, referral partners, coming up with ideas to solve client problems, creating programs, posting on social media sites, speaking engagements, networking events, writing blogs or articles, making phone calls, doing research (on client needs, competitors, etc.), actual work with clients. All of these activities are very important to business growth

Money – this is where you set and track the amount of money you want, or need, to make daily/weekly/monthly/yearly; this equates to how much volume do you need to do to make your desired amount of money in one of those categories. It also means pricing your services or goods appropriately to ensure you’re bringing in the amount of money you need. Add in to this our expenses, which can include: office rent, phone, office supplies, internet services/hosting, buying domain name, printing expenses (business cards, handouts, and the like), webinar/teleseminar services, gifts/ donations, gas and other car expenses, lunches and networking meetings, membership to professional associations, going to conferences. It’s important to know your output.

These are the two main areas I see for tracking ROI, which applies not just to business; personally, we need to track these two areas as well. The bottom line to uncover is our investment into whatever activity we are pursuing and then are we getting the results from that investment. For someone who wants to lose weight, looking at calories expended or days at the gym; for those looking for a new job, how many resumes are being sent out which results in interviews; for those wanting to pay off a credit card, how much money do you need to pay extra and in how many months will it take, and where do you need to cut back on other expenses – I think you get the picture!
Return on investment definitely is important to track so you feel more in control of your schedule, time and money. Reaching profitably, and lessening frustration, while reaching set goals can only occur if you’re meeting them, which can only come if you monitor all that goes on within your business dealings. If you haven’t, it’s not too late to develop an ROI plan to keep you in growth mode, which then allows you to move to expanding the business.Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting focuses on workplace happiness and organizational success.If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started! https://www.cyscoaching.com or barbara@cyscoaching.com. For more great tips, visit our other blog at https://allaboutcareersites.com